2009 Audi A4 Avant: Want To See Something Boring?

This is one feature I hate universally on any vehicle.

What must be more annoying is the number of people who say "you forgot to turn off your headlights" as you walk away from your car. I know because I said it to someone once, thinking I was doing them a favor, and they said "they turn off automatically" in a not so friendly tone.

You can program the courtesy lights off when you lock, can you?

I never use the auto setting on my car's, it's annoying that they come on in a dark garage and then turn off once you back out. Also every person telling me I left my lights on.

You realize you can change this setting, don't you? It's easily changed through the "CAR" menu.

"still see the lights through the crack in the door"

Ah, Southern California.

I love this feature, actually.

That and it looks like your rear fogs are on...

You make a very valid point, however it is not really applicable to the A4 as this is a setting through the MMI menu.

You make a very valid point, however it is not really applicable to the A4 as this is a setting through the MMI menu.

I, on the contrary, like to see that "show", because I like to see my car`s LED taillamps and xenon headlights when I get out of the car, while entering my house.

Hey guys,
Sorry for the silly observations. I'm on a roll! But gets tougher to find new things to blog about when everyone is blogging so often about the same car. Not that I'm complaining. My observation, like I said, was just something that bugged me. Some auto lights take even longer to shut off. Out of curiosity, I timed the Sonata's auto lights, which took even longer. 43 seconds, to be exact.

Like spaceywilly (great name btw) pointed out, people notice these things.

Well, nice that you have the choice. Some people here like having the lights remain on for a little while, and if you live in a very dark area I can see that being useful. I too have reminded others that they left their lights on in situations like this, and have been reminded myself by others. I'd probably turn it off if I had the option.

stovt001,
Good point about dark areas as those usually creep me out. And I know if it's your car, it's something you just get used to. But going in and out of different cars, the Audi's auto lights just caught my attention compared to the others'.

BMW has an interesting twist on this- the time delay is programmable in iDrive but the lights never automatically delay. They only do the delay if you hit the high-beam stalk after you shut the car off. The nice thing is then you only have the lights stay on (mine is programmed for 60 seconds) if you truly need them.

Subaru has a simpler solution. Pull the key out of the ignition (stopping the engine in the process, of course :-) ) and the headlights, if turned on, go off. Put the key back and the headlights go back on.

User has the option to manually override, but this simple approach guarantees you won't be leaving your lights on __unless__ you deliberately choose to do so.

I really like the time delay on Auto Lights. Makes it very easy to unlock the house in the dark since the lights are still on when you're looking for a key. And I like vehicles that turn them on when you unlock the doors at night. Who still tells people their lights are on? I really though that most cars today have auto lights. I have never had a car that failed to turn the lights off so I don't even think about it. My Mom's old Buick was 10 years old when she got rid of it but the Twilight Sentinal always worked like the first night it did it's thing. Automatic Headlights was very cool to a 10 year old kid. Pretty amazing when you consider by then the fornt windows, antenna, and locks had all broke.

I really like the time delay on Auto Lights. Makes it very easy to unlock the house in the dark since the lights are still on when you're looking for a key. And I like vehicles that turn them on when you unlock the doors at night. Who still tells people their lights are on? I really though that most cars today have auto lights. I have never had a car that failed to turn the lights off so I don't even think about it. My Mom's old Buick was 10 years old when she got rid of it but the Twilight Sentinal always worked like the first night it did it's thing. Automatic Headlights was very cool to a 10 year old kid. Pretty amazing when you consider by then the fornt windows, antenna, and locks had all broke.

all toyotas do this.
it's useful at night.

Since I don't have a garage, the auto headlights on my car help me to not trip on the curb and give some illumination going into my apartment just long enough for me to get in.

Entry/puddle lamps on the bottom of the doors are a nice touch too.

I have a '96 Thunderbird [try not to be too jealous! LOL :)] and I used to have mine timed for 3 minutes. I was staying in a rental with bad exterior lighting. It worked out well.

Like AllThingsHonda's mom's Buick, my antenna, driver's window, cruise control, key-fob trunk release and accessory lights don't work anymore but my lights do!

I don't get it. Are people saying that Audi (and Hyundai) shouldn't offer the feature, which can be easily defeated, because some don't like it? I for one complained to Hyundai the previous Sonata didn't have it. My Intrepid offered it, though only if you turned off the lights AFTER the ignition, and I sorely miss it.